The Court rapped on the table.
"This is your own witness, Mr. Prosecutor. Are you trying to cross-examine him, or to discredit his testimony?"
"I beg your honour's pardon."
Kenneth arose. "We will admit that Jasper Suggs came to his death at the hands of the defendant."
"In that case," said his gentlemanly adversary, "the State rests."
"Judge" Billings was heard audibly to remark: "Give 'em an inch and they take a mile."
"Order in the court! Call your first witness, Mr. Gwynne."
"Take this chair, if you please, Miss Hawk. Hold up your right hand and be sworn. Now, be good enough to answer the questions I put to you, clearly and distinctly, so that the jury may hear."
After a few preliminary questions he said: "Now tell the Court and the jury exactly what happened, beginning with the return of your father and Jasper Suggs from a trip to town. Don't be afraid, Miss—er—Moll. Tell the jury, in your own words, just what took place between the time you first heard Suggs and your father talking in the cabin and the arrival of the sheriff and his men."
It lacked just three minutes of ten o'clock when she finished her story. It had been delivered haltingly and with visible signs of embarrassment at times, but it was a straightforward, honest recital of facts.